ዘጸአት 11

One plague still to come

¹The LORD said to Moses, “There is one plague still to come. I will bring it on Pharaoh and on Egypt, and after it he will let you leave this place. When he lets you go, he will drive you out of here for good.^{ab 2}Now tell the people, so that all of them hear it, that each man is to ask his Egyptian neighbor, and each woman hers, for articles of silver and gold.”^{c 3}The LORD made the Egyptians look kindly on the people. Moses, too, was a very great man in the land of Egypt; Pharaoh’s officials and the people looked on him with respect.

Moses warns of the death of the firstborn

⁴Moses then told Pharaoh, “The LORD says this: ‘Around midnight I am going out into the heart of Egypt. ⁵Every firstborn in the land of Egypt will die, from the firstborn of Pharaoh, seated on his throne, to the firstborn of the female servant who grinds grain at the millstones, and every firstborn of the animals as well. ⁶A great cry of grief will go up across the whole land of Egypt. Nothing like it has happened before, and nothing like it will happen again. ⁷But among the Israelites not even a dog will snarl at anyone, human or animal. So you will know that the LORD sets Israel apart from Egypt.’ ⁸Every one of these officials of yours will come down to me and bow to the ground, and they will say, ‘Leave, you and all the people at your heels!’ Only then will I go.” And Moses walked out from Pharaoh’s presence in fierce anger.

⁹The LORD said to Moses, “Pharaoh will not heed you, so that I may do still more wonders in the land of Egypt.”^{d 10}Moses and Aaron did all these wonders in front of Pharaoh, but the LORD made Pharaoh’s heart stubborn, and he did not release the Israelites from his land.